


dead wrong

by Dresupi



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Lack of Communication, Light Angst, Non-Explicit Sex, POV Karen Page, Post-The Punisher (TV 2017) Season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 00:45:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17632901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Karen is convinced it meant more to her than it did to him. She’s so convinced that she doesn’t even bother to pay attention to all the clues to the contrary.It’s a good thing Frank specializes in bluntness.





	dead wrong

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wickedwriter916](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwriter916/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [wickedwriter916](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwriter916/pseuds/wickedwriter916) in the [Conversation_Heart_Prompts_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Conversation_Heart_Prompts_2019) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Maybe Frank and Karen are oblivious, and Sarah is the one that calls one/the other/both out on their feelings? 
> 
> Or whatever strikes your fancy ;)
> 
> **_Conversation Heart Prompts 2019_ **

_ “Karen?” he whispered, his lips still pressed against her shoulder. _

_ His hands had tightened around her arms, not holding her back any more than he was holding himself.  _

_ “Frank…” Her voice was louder, unmuffled. She felt him relax at the sound, his fingers loosening from her arms as he trailed one down the side of her torso, alongside her breast, over her ribcage.  _

_ Gooseflesh pebbled in its wake, a tingle that traveled up her spine and lingered when she finally turned her face towards him, finding his lips in the dark and sighing at the relief the kiss brought. _

_ It was like something broke. Fingers tore at fabric, lips and teeth clamored for dominance. _

_ His touch was like fire, fingers trailing down her bare skin, leaving her burning for more. _

_ One hand cupped her breast, thumb swiping over the stiffened peak while the other drifted further. Lower. Deeper. He sought out the source of her warmth and she gave in willingly. _

_ When his fingers found her core, molten hot and aching, he swallowed her moans. Fingertips brushed and plucked until she couldn’t hold it in any longer. _

_ His name was louder on her lips, a furtive prayer. Over and over and over, she cried out. _

_ Her hands clawed at his back before reaching out for him. Her fingers wrapped around him, smooth and stiffening more with every stroke. _

_ He stopped her before long, settling between her thighs and pressing home, her name softly tickling her skin as he started to move. _

_ They rocked together on the mattress, her metal bed frame clanking back against the wall, the springs groaning, her quickening breath, soft gasps as he groaned out her name, low and rumbling. Their union overwhelmed the senses, and Karen felt Frank’s whole body tense with his release. _

_ His muscles relaxed, his forehead was sweaty when he rested against her body. _

_ No more words were spoken, none were needed. _

* * *

Sarah knew.

Karen could tell as she sat across from the other woman, as Karen pointedly stared straight ahead and not at the man sitting next to her.

Sarah had probably noticed it when they both came for dinner that evening. There was something different about the way they were holding themselves. Karen had deluded herself into thinking that maybe there wasn’t. That maybe, if she was calm and collected enough in his presence, no one would notice the decided  _ shift _ in their relationship.

No, not a shift. A veritable  _ leap. _

She had been dead wrong about no one noticing.

Hell, David even seemed to notice, sending Sarah his trademarked raised-eyebrows-look from across the dining room table. 

And if  _ David _ noticed, it was a shake past blatant.

Karen pointedly didn’t look at Frank at all. She hadn’t even glanced his way when he arrived late and after the table had already been set for three. 

It wasn’t that there  _ wasn’t _ a tangible spark in the air. The momentum of something that could have been if they’d only open their eyes and their hearts to what was directly in front of them… no, it was more like the spark had ignited and you could smell the residual smoldering fumes.  Like a house that had been a blazing hot with a house fire and turned to charred cinders the next day.

The cinders were what everyone was seeing.

There was a coldness that didn’t exist before. Not a numb, gradual coldness either. This was sudden. Absolute. Karen was drowning in it, and it wasn’t coming from Frank. She’d wielded the bucket of ice water, was still figuratively clutching it in her trembling hands. It hadn’t been her best decision, but in her panicked state, it had been the only one she could make. 

No matter what, it was apparent that something had happened, and it was only a matter of time before Karen pulled Sarah aside to tell her exactly what. It was weighing on her, and she needed to talk about it to someone other than Frank.

* * *

 

 

“We slept together…” Karen muttered, her eyes darting for the first time over to Frank. It was safe. She was seeing the back of his head. God, if she caught his eyes again, she didn’t think she would be able to break free.

“No shit,” Sarah muttered, glancing over where Frank and David were talking. “How was it?”

_ “Sarah… _ ” Karen hissed, caught between laughing and running from the room. Her face reddened and she covered her mouth with one hand, trying not to burst out into nervous laughter.  Into tears. Into nervous laughter/tears. 

“Not sorry, it’s important, need-to-know information,” Sarah said with a shrug and a smirk.

“It was…  _ intense _ ,” Karen said slowly, unsure if ‘intense’ was actually the right word, but it felt the closest.

“Ah. He bailed?” Sarah asked, frowning slightly as she stole another look at Frank. The way she said it almost sounded like she already knew she was wrong.

“No, I did,” Karen confessed from behind her hand. “I bailed.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know… it felt like a weakness. Like a chink in the armor… like I was only doing it for lack of something else to do…” Karen shook her head and turned towards the sink to run water on some already rinsed dishes. Even as she talked, none of it felt right. That wasn’t why she’d run at all.

“Liar, liar,” Sarah chided, taking the plate from her hands. “Pants on fire.”

“If you already know, tell me,” Karen replied, turning off the water. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“Me either,” Sarah said with a soft smile. “But I know you need to talk to Frank about it since he’s the only one who might.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s angry with me,” Karen said softly, stealing another glance at him and briefly catching his heated gaze.

Sarah chuckled a little. “I don’t think that’s anger I’m feeling.”  She squeezed Karen’s arm and left her side. Karen turned away, stared down into the sink, watching the water slowly drip down the drain as she tried to compose herself.

There was a soft brush of fingers on her arm and when she turned, it wasn’t Sarah standing there.

“Wanna go out on the porch?” Frank asked, his voice low. The deepness rumbled and dragged against something inside her chest.

“What for?” she asked, looking back down at the sink.

“To see the stars or something, I don’t know…” Frank said, exhaling loudly. “I just think we should probably talk.”

“We probably shouldn’t do this here,” Karen began.

“Do what here?”

She sighed in exasperation. “You know what.”

“No, but why don’t you tell me  _ outside _ ?”

“Fine.” Karen pushed off the sink and followed Frank outside to the back porch.

She crossed both arms in front of her as she stood there, staring into the backyard and looking anywhere but at him.

“What shouldn’t we be doing here?” Frank asked immediately, taking a seat on the swing. The chains squeaked as he moved.

“Talking about what we did.”

She could hear the smile in his voice. “And what did we do?”

“We…” She paused, unsure if she should try to be delicate or not. “We slept together.”

“Wasn’t much sleeping going on,” he replied immediately.

“Frank…”

“Nah, I know what happened. We slept together, you got scared and you left. And we didn’t have a postmortem, so now you think it’s gotta be awkward.” He listed everything in such a matter-of-fact sort of way that his words almost hurt.

“No, that’s not it at all,” she countered.

“Oh really? What is it then?” he asked.

“We slept together and I think it meant more to me than it did to you,” she blurted. “I woke up the next morning and… and… I realized that my feelings were very… very intense and I got scared and I ran because casual isn’t something I could ever do with you.”

He got up then, his shoes creaking on the deck as he moved closer. So close his breath was moving her hair, tickling her earlobe. “Does my behavior this evening read as  _ casual _ to you? Because I was fucking terrified that you made some huge mistake and here I was with all these feelings for you and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop looking at you, Karen…” he stopped abruptly, tilting his head down until it bumped against hers. 

“And I couldn’t look at you,” she continued. “Because I didn’t want to be right.”

“Well, you’re not right,” he said, a noise that was supposed to be laughter huffing out against her skin. “You’re dead wrong.”

“Say that again,” she whispered.

“Wrong. You’re wrong, Karen.”

She turned to face him, her lips finding his with no difficulty at all. She tilted her head into a bruising kiss, her arms flailing for a moment, but soon wrapping around his shoulders, fingers moving up the back of his head and into his hair. 

She felt his teeth drag against her lower lip and she ended the kiss briefly. “Say it again, Frank.”

“You are absolutely wrong.”

His arms wrapped around her lower back, bowing her against his body as his lips found hers again. 

**Author's Note:**

> xoxo!
> 
>  
> 
> _Author's Note ___  
> I haven't actually seen season 2 of the Punisher yet, I'm waiting until after my surgery to even start watching it. <3 Thanks, and have a great one!


End file.
